The techniques used by the police world over to question suspects have always been, to say the least, controversial. But very soon the Indore police are going to have a unique weapon in their 'interrogation repertoire' — digging up the truth by hypnotizing a suspect. The Indore police are learning the art of interrogation through hypnosis at a six-day workshop that was inaugurated at the police control room on Monday. Says additional SP (headquarters) Vinay Paul: “While all the participants of the workshop would be provided exposure to this technique, we plan to provide specialized training to at least 10 policemen so that they acquire the necessary know-how to hypnotize suspects and question them.”

Sudhir Khetawat, who is training the cops in the fine art of ‘hypnotism’ said: “I will give a live demonstration to the policemen at the workshop on how they can hypnotize a suspect and get the truth out of him, without resorting to violence.”

At the inauguration, Dr Khetawat hypnotized subedar Dinesh Marskole for around 10 minutes in front of a live audience. During his trance, the subedar was jabbed with a needle, but did not react.

The workshop is not only about hypnosis, but also about alternative therapies like acupressure.

The policemen are going to be taught the self-healing techniques of acupressure, how it can stop excessive bleeding, how it can give instant strength to beat one’s opponents.

SP (East) OP Tripathy, who inaugurated the workshop, said that he was intrigued by Dr Khetawat’s claim.

“I have never heard of hypnosis being used for interrogation, and I don’t know whether it is acceptable under law. But, he is a learned person, let us see what he has to offer,” the SP said.